The Starved Writer

I spent Monday in the kitchen and, yes, it was wonderful.

For most of my life I have listened to my Mom and my Grandma gripe about having spent the morning in the kitchen, labouring over a lemon meringue pie or a pot of tomato sauce – as if this a bad thing! I know that they are busy women with lots of things to do and often not enough time to do them but I love having an excuse to spend the morning in the kitchen. Spending the whole day in the kitchen? Even better.

What about you? Do you look forward to a day spent in the kitchen or dread it? Why?

As my recent absence from The Starved Writer may indicate, I haven’t had much time to cook or bake lately. Things are busy at work and I have barely left Sam’s side since he returned from Barcelona. (Hello, separation anxiety!) When I am not at work or with Sam I am racing to write stories before their deadlines and going for a run here and there so that I don’t go insane. I have hardly had time to breath! So, during breakfast on Monday, I formally announced to my family that I was going to spend the day cooking and baking and that was it. End of story. Nothing else.

Though I didn’t get around to making five recipes like I hoped, I was happy with the three that I made: Along with the Chocolate Zucchini Muffins that I am posting today, I also made Almond Butter Cookies from Chatelaine and a vegan Corn and Bell Pepper Soup from Dianasaur Dishes. The almond butter cookies are a delicious take on the peanut butter ones that I grew up with! I can’t get enough of them and even plan on crumbling one or two over ice cream tonight. (I think my almond butter was a bit bad though, so I bet these cookies will be even more yum the second time I make them! Perhaps I will post them then.) And the soup, though it doesn’t look as tasty as Diana’s, was quite good! I love that you can enjoy this soup in the warm months without feeling out of season.

And now, on to the chocolate zucchini muffins! Now, I feel with a recipe as “out there” as this that I owe you a bit of a disclaimer before I post it: These zucchini and chocolate muffins are not, I repeat not, cupcakes. Just because they are chocolate, don’t expect cupcakes. They are quite good, for muffins, but if you are expecting cupcakes, you will be let down. (If you are looking for a zucchini and chocolate cupcake recipe, look no further than Heidi Swanson. I haven’t tried them but they look to die for.)

That being said, I can’t quite put my finger on the taste of these muffins. They do taste a bit chocolate but more cocoa, I would say – if that makes sense! They are also rather fibrous from the zucchini and coconut but not vegetal by any means. My Dad and I decided that their texture, and even their taste, is a bit like a bran muffin – but with a bit of cocoa! As for the zucchini, you hardly notice it! (At least, I didn’t.) If I make these again, which I plan on doing, I am going to shred the zucchini, like I did this time around, and then chop it even finer. That might also allow me to add more zucchini which would make them even healthier, right?

And so, here is the recipe, which I adapted from The Family Kitchen.

Serves 14 to 16

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of zucchini, shredded (about 2 small)
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/4 cup of shredded coconut
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup of buttermilk
3/4 cup of honey
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 tsp of vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or line a muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, coconut, baking powder and salt.
3.In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs. Then add the buttermilk, honey, olive oil and vanilla.
4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined. Finally, fold in the zucchini.
5. Pour the batter evenly into the muffin tin.